Fountain brush



1960 F. w. MONTAGUE Er L FOUNTAIN BRUSH 3' Sheets-Sheet -1 Filed May 21, 1954 INVENTOR 7 017; n72 I M12 70 ATTORNEYS Jan. 12, 1960 w, MQNTAGUE ETAL 2,920,333

FOUNTAIN BRUSH Fi led May 21, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 N VENTOR Frank W Man/0921a, duoi flOH/bZl/e.

A1 wRNE'Y 1960 F. w. MONTAGUE L FOUNTAIN BRUSH 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 21, 1954 INVENTORS ank M Manfagae 50s m4 a7? 14 @0727 gale ATTORNEYfi 2,920,333 Patented Jan. 12, 1960 United States Patent ()fiFice FOUNTAIN BRUSH Frank W. -Montague-and Susan A. Montague,

' Bay- City, Mich.

This invention relates to brushes for cleaning bathtubs, receptacles, interior walls of buildings and surfaces of any nature, and more particularly to a fountain brush for dispensing a detergent or soap when predetermined downward pressure is exerted on the brush during the cleaning operation.

One of the prime objects of the invention is to design a fountain reservoir brush of simple, practical and pleasing design from which a detergent can be expelled by suitable pressure on the brush as the work is being carried on.

Another object is to design a fountain brush which can be formed of wood, plastic, or metal and provide self-sealing means connected to the detergent reservoir for automatically closing the dispensing orifice when the pressure is relieved.

With the above and other objects in ,view, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportion, and minor details of construction, without departing from the spirit, or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as set forth in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a non-elected form of our fountain brush.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view.

Fig. 4 is an inverted view of a non-elected modified design.

Fig. 5 is a sectional, inverted elevational view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 with portion 23 rotated 45 degrees.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional detail showing the elected form of the dispensing nozzle.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, edge elevational view of the undulating spring in Fig. 5.

Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view similar to Figure 6 and showing the elected form of Figure 6 in the general combination set forth in the claims.

Referring now more specifically to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings in which is shown one embodiment of our invention, the brush proper can be made up of any desired material and design, and comprises a head section 8 terminating in an elongated handle 9, said head being hollow as at 10 to form areservoir, and the handle is also hollow as at 11 to connect therewith. An opening 12 is provided directly adjacent the end of the handle so that the brush may be hung on a suitable hook (not shown) and also to accommodate a stopper 13 formed with a projection 14 which forms a closure for the open end of the passage 11, a small air passage 15 being provided in the stopper to admit air to the reservoir and head element to eliminate any possibility of vacuum forming in the head as the detergent is dispensed.

The brush proper is formed as clearly shown in Fig.

3 of the drawings, the bristles 16 being inserted in the usual manner and the front end 17 of the brush being beveled as shown with rows of bristles 16a set'therein. A self-sealing dispensing nozzle N is located in the head between the bristles at the point where the beveled front wall 17 meets the lower face of the head, and this nozzle is formed of rubber or other resilient material having a centrally disposed dispensing orifice 19 therein open to the hollow portion of the head, the outer end terminating in a slit 20 which leads to the top of the nozzle, which slit is open only when pressure is exerted on the brush to force the nozzle against the surface being cleaned and spread the slit 20 to permit detergent to escape, said nozzle being opened also when cleaning in corners etc. or by tilting the brush so that the forwardlyprojecting tufts 16a and nozzle H with the surface being cleaned. I

The head 8 can be easily filled by merely removing the plug 13 and pouring detergent (not shown), into the passage 11 which leads to the reservoir 10, after which the plug is again inserted, and the brush is then ready for further use.

In Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, we have shown another modification of our brush, the structure comprising a head H having a handle 21 as usual. The head H is preferably formed in two sections 22 and 23 respectively, the upper section 22being hollow as shown with the lower edge being circumferentially recessed as at 24, said recess opening into a groove 25 with an upstanding rib 26 forming one wall thereof.

Circumferentially spaced cut-outs '27 are provided in the lower face of the section 22 and accommodate radially disposed wings '28 formed on the lower head section 23, each wing having a depending rib 29 which slidably engages in the groove25, a' groove 30 being provided adjacent the ribs 29 to accommodate the rib 26 of the upper head section 22.

Rows of bristles 1617 are provided on the lower face of the member 23 as usual, and it will be noted that whereas the sections 22 and 23 can be held in assembled relation, they are in reality movable with respect to each other, an undulating spring 31 being interposed between the two sections so that pressure on the head will tend to collapse the head and move the sections with relation to each other.

To assemble, it is merely necessary to place the undulated spring in position; then place the Wings 28 in the cut-outs 27 as shown in Fig. 4, after which predetermined rotation locks the members in assembled relation, the spring 31 normally holding the sections in spaced-apart relation.

simultaneously engage A centrally disposed opening 33 is provided in the' lower section 23 of the head to accommodate the neck 34 of a flexible bag B, this neck being provided with a centrally disposed, internally threaded opening 35, and accommodates a stopper 36 which has threaded engagement therewith, said stopper being counterbored as at 37 and having a discharge orifice 38 terminating in a slit 39 which is opened when the brush is collapsed to force detergent therefrom. A short, curved, plastic tube section 40 is fitted in the counterbore 37, the free end being normally submerged when the brush is used on side walls, so that practically the entire contents of the bag can be dispensed before it is necessary to refill the bag.

Wings 41 are moulded on the lower end of the stopper 36 and project below the body of the section 23 so that they may be readily grasped to facilitate removal of the stopper to permit refill of the bag when necessary, and when suflicient pressure is exerted on the brush, the spring 31 will yield, permitting the sections to move toward each other, thus collapsing the bag B, and forcing the detergent through orifice 38 to the surface being cleaned. When the pressure is reduced, the spring 31 forces the parts back to original position, the bristles again are upright and the orifice is again closed.

It will, of course, be obvious that any desired resilient means may be substituted for the spring 31 without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings, there is shown another modified construction in which the head comprises two sections 42 and 43, the section 42 being formed with a groove and rib 44 and 45 respectively and the section 43 being formed with a rib and groove 46 and 47 which intermesh with the rib and groove 44 and 45; the head sections are secured together the same as the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and the nozzle 8 is substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 3, being actuated in the same manner and mounted in the neck of a flexible bag B similar to the flexible bag shown in the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 5.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that we have perfected a very simple, practical and convenient fountain brush and dispenser from which detergent or other cleaning fluid can be dispensed during the cleaning operation, without placing the users hands in the detergent or water used, said brush or bag being readily refillable when the container is empty.

What we claim is:

1. In a fountain cleaning implement adapted to carry its own supply of cleaning fluid, a hollow, sectional head member adapted to be filled with a liquid, each section 9 being formed with an outer annular rim, said rims being formed with intermeshing grooves and ribs so that said sections may be rotated with relation to each other to predetermined position to form a leak-proof connection,

an elongated hollow handle having one end connected to said hollow head and having a conventional venting means for said supply, a plurality of spaced apart, surface engaging bristle members projecting downwardly from the lower face of said head member, a resilient member projecting from the lower face of said head in the same direction as said surface engaging bristle members, the free end of said resilient member being spaced upwards from the free ends of said bristles and normally out of engagement with the surface being cleaned, said resilient member being formed with a passage open to the interior of said head and the fluid therein, with the lower end of the passage being normally closed, the wall of said normally closed passage being spread to permit escape of liquid when pressure is exerted on the surface engaging bristle members to bend them sufficiently to bring the free end of the resilient member into yielding contact with the surface being cleaned to release liquid from said head.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the lower face of said head and said bristle members form a brush having an upwardly curved front wall section, said resilient member being located in said front wall section of the brush and being engageable with the surface to be cleaned only when the brush is tilted to raise the bristles on the bottom face of the brush out of contact with the surface being cleaned, pressure on said brush, when tilted, permitting opening of said normally closed passage and escape of liquid therefrom when the brush is pulled across the surface being cleaned.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 756,103 Doten Mar. 29, 1904 1,111,643 Bullard Sept. 22, 1914 1,569,259 Burlock Jan. 12, 1926 1,959,774 Walsh May 22, 1934 2,014,149 Stafford -'Sept. 10, 1935 2,279,520 Perillo Apr. 14, 1942 2,543,195 Petion Feb. 27, 1951 2,624,902 Soldner Jan. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 172,670 Switzerland Apr. 1, 1935 

